18/09/2026
Horse training is dangerous.
And I think there is a growing group of people in the horse world who sometimes forget that.
There are things we can do to reduce our risk. Wear a helmet. Wear appropriate footwear. Learn good handling skills. Reduce unnecessary punishment. Give horses more predictability, agency and choice. Learn to recognize fear, pain and escalating arousal.
We actually have research showing that understanding how horses learn, reducing fear and confusion, avoiding unnecessary conflict and recognizing escalating arousal can help make our interactions with horses safer.
Safer. Not safe.
And I think that distinction is really important.
I see people say âmy horse would never hurt meâ because they have a great relationship with their horse.
Your horse may be your best friend. They can trust you. They can choose to be with you. You can train them incredibly thoughtfully.
They can still hurt you.
And they donât have to WANT to hurt you.
Years ago Pale stepped on some kind of ground wasp or bee nest while we were out on trail.
I cannot stress how safe this horse is. Iâve done an enormous amount of liberty work with him. Iâve ridden him off property extensively. By most horse peopleâs definition, he is about as âbombproofâ as they come.
It didnât matter.
He was suddenly being stung over and over again and reacted so quickly that I got launched.
Pale didnât decide to hurt me. Our relationship didnât disappear. His training didnât fail. He was a horse suddenly experiencing something painful and frightening and he reacted.
THAT is what I mean when I say safer does not mean safe.
Horses are large flight animals. They can panic. They can be in pain. They can become extremely aroused. They can lose their footing. They can react faster than we can. They can make mistakes.
And your horse doesnât even have to be the one that does something.
Another horse can spook and run into yours. Another horse can move your horse into you. A horse can kick at another horse and hit you instead. Equipment can break. Someone can lose control of a horse nearby.
Some of the worst horse accidents Iâve witnessed or heard about have happened like this. The horse that actually injured someone wasnât even the horse that started the problem.
I also think itâs easier to lose sight of this when most of your experience has been with a handful of quiet, uncomplicated horses.
Working with horses with extreme fear, serious behaviour problems, significant pain or much more complicated histories changes your perspective pretty quickly.
But âhorses can be dangerousâ also doesnât mean we need to control their every movement, take away every choice or force them into submission to keep ourselves safe.
The research doesnât support that either.
How we train affects safety. Fear, confusion, frustration and high arousal can contribute to dangerous situations. So can provoking a flight response or failing to recognize that a horse is escalating.
There has to be somewhere between âmy horse would never hurt meâ and âmy horse is dangerous, so I need complete control.â
You can give your horse choices and still pay attention to where youâre standing. You can prioritize agency and still get the heck out of the way when you need to. You can avoid unnecessary force and still have boundaries. You can trust your horse and still wear a helmet.
I love my horses. I trust my horses.
I also know they can hurt me.
Those things arenât incompatible.
And I think more people need to be comfortable admitting that.
